Erin Morgenstern: The night circus (2011, Center Point Large Print)
607 pages
English language
Published Dec. 25, 2011 by Center Point Large Print.
Waging a fierce competition for which they have trained since childhood, circus magicians Celia and Marco unexpectedly fall in love with each other and share a fantastical romance that manifests in fateful ways.
I enjoyed this fantasy and thought it had enough red herrings and surprises to reward. I am somewhat curious about the prior challenges but would think it tedious for this great book to be turned into a series.
A pretty fairy-tale about a pointless magical duel conducted over an extended period of time at a circus that is both real and surreal.
There is romance, manipulation and illusion as the central characters, unbeknownst to them, fight out some proxy war over theories in learning magic.
It's an enjoyable fantasy but I found it easy to put the book down and forget about it for a while. I wasn't fully immersed in the fable nor invested in the characters.
Beautifully, gorgeously written, masterful interleaving of the multiple threads of story, wonderful narration.
I just found myself being perpetually frustrated that I had no idea what this "game" was that was being played. Granted, it was also never explained to the players, but WHYYYYYYYY
This was so beautiful. I actually do not have the words to explain how beautiful it was. This is accomplished elegance, intelligence and beauty all in one book.
The symbols, the magic, the aesthetic. The deep thought in the set up and the hidden messages between the lines.
It's precious and I will cuddle this book for a very long time, sleep with it, eat with it and read and reread it. AND NEVER LET GO. And every time the world is a shitty place and other books sucks, I will just get this book out and hold on to it.
Did I mention the magic? The magic was the most beautiful magic I have ever read in a book. I want to put it on paper, but I can't because it's too beautiful to catch it on paper and my attempts will pale in comparison to it.
Fucking Prague …
This was so beautiful. I actually do not have the words to explain how beautiful it was. This is accomplished elegance, intelligence and beauty all in one book.
The symbols, the magic, the aesthetic. The deep thought in the set up and the hidden messages between the lines.
It's precious and I will cuddle this book for a very long time, sleep with it, eat with it and read and reread it. AND NEVER LET GO. And every time the world is a shitty place and other books sucks, I will just get this book out and hold on to it.
Did I mention the magic? The magic was the most beautiful magic I have ever read in a book. I want to put it on paper, but I can't because it's too beautiful to catch it on paper and my attempts will pale in comparison to it.
Fucking Prague
Rain
Books
Stars
And so so much more
I have no idea, how people can not like this book. Or be bored by it. It's like the greatest showman mixed with Moulin Rouge plus Magic (I am not sure which magic, because it was so beautiful magic, incomparable magic to be exact, maybe Neil Gaiman magic, but that also does not fit it 100%). You would need to be a very weird person not to like that.
Oh this book is lovely. It's deep and well-paced and has some of the most vivid imagery I've read in a long time. I swear I could smell the popcorn and hear the violins and taste the chocolate mice (though that might have been this fever helping out).
The book follows a classic magician's duel that is played out through the construction of a fantastical circus. The two unwilling combatants are tied into the game at a very young age by their respective teachers, who have an ancient but amiable vendetta. That's where the book starts, and it only becomes more convoluted from there. It's definitely a novel about characters—the combatants, the performers, the circus followers, and the circus itself (and it's an elegant monochrome cirque du soleil sort of circus, look for tumblers and illusionists and living statues here, not clowns and rainbow-bright colors).
I haven't read the cover …
Oh this book is lovely. It's deep and well-paced and has some of the most vivid imagery I've read in a long time. I swear I could smell the popcorn and hear the violins and taste the chocolate mice (though that might have been this fever helping out).
The book follows a classic magician's duel that is played out through the construction of a fantastical circus. The two unwilling combatants are tied into the game at a very young age by their respective teachers, who have an ancient but amiable vendetta. That's where the book starts, and it only becomes more convoluted from there. It's definitely a novel about characters—the combatants, the performers, the circus followers, and the circus itself (and it's an elegant monochrome cirque du soleil sort of circus, look for tumblers and illusionists and living statues here, not clowns and rainbow-bright colors).
I haven't read the cover blurb, as I bought this as an ebook upon a recommendation, but I hear it's highly misleading.
So let me just say: if you liked 'Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell', 'The Prestige', and the tv series 'Carnivale' as much as I did... Then this is for you. Go for it.
